So last night, I took Coley on her first real experience as a Race Volunteer!
I had known that It's Glow Time 5K was coming to Grand Rapids, and as much fun as I thought it would be, the truth of the matter is I'm kinda flat broke right about now. Living on a steady diet of Pizza Rolls purchased when they were on sale at Meijer's 10 for $10. (With the 11th free!)
*Side note: I don't know what people would do without Meijer's. If you live outside the Mid-West, I pity you. I basically live off this one store. Well, that and Target. :)*
ANYWAYS! FOCUS!
So Coley and decided that if we didn't have money to spend running the race, the next best thing would be to volunteer!
I had known that It's Glow Time 5K was coming to Grand Rapids, and as much fun as I thought it would be, the truth of the matter is I'm kinda flat broke right about now. Living on a steady diet of Pizza Rolls purchased when they were on sale at Meijer's 10 for $10. (With the 11th free!)
*Side note: I don't know what people would do without Meijer's. If you live outside the Mid-West, I pity you. I basically live off this one store. Well, that and Target. :)*
ANYWAYS! FOCUS!
So Coley and decided that if we didn't have money to spend running the race, the next best thing would be to volunteer!
It was really easy to sign up for volunteering at this event, and I thought that was pretty sweet. They used Active.com, same as they used for race regsitration, and when you signed up to volunteer, you even got to pick which volunteer position you wanted to help with. Coley and I signed up to be "Party Zone Attendants," which meant we would get to hang out in the party zones along the 5K course and just make sure everything was going smoothly and that people were having a good time.
When Coley and I showed up, early as per our usual routine, for our shift, we let the volunteer coordinator know that we would be more than happy to help out wherever they needed us. Sure, we'd signed up for the Party Zone, but truth be told, at a race like this, pretty much the entire thing is a party zone. And we were more than happy to get put to get put to work.
When Coley and I showed up, early as per our usual routine, for our shift, we let the volunteer coordinator know that we would be more than happy to help out wherever they needed us. Sure, we'd signed up for the Party Zone, but truth be told, at a race like this, pretty much the entire thing is a party zone. And we were more than happy to get put to get put to work.
And put us to work they did! Once we told them we could do whatever and I mentioned that I had helped out at other races, we got put to work doing all sorts off things!
The list of tasks Coley and did last night includes, but is not limited to:
*Checking in participants at Registraion
*Handing out tee shirts
*Breaking down boxes and talbles
*Monitoring the photo station
The list of tasks Coley and did last night includes, but is not limited to:
*Checking in participants at Registraion
*Handing out tee shirts
*Breaking down boxes and talbles
*Monitoring the photo station
*Handing out water bottles
*Handing out Finisher medals
*General Clean Up
*Packing Up Tee Shirts
AAAAND... Just about anything else. Pretty much the only thing we didn't do was DJ. But we would have. If they'd asked us. :)
Jills of All Trades, if you will.
And master of all!
We seemed to do a pretty good job, since we got some compliments from the staff working the event. And I was excited to get to talk to one of the race coordinators about their company and how they run.
*Handing out Finisher medals
*General Clean Up
*Packing Up Tee Shirts
AAAAND... Just about anything else. Pretty much the only thing we didn't do was DJ. But we would have. If they'd asked us. :)
Jills of All Trades, if you will.
And master of all!
We seemed to do a pretty good job, since we got some compliments from the staff working the event. And I was excited to get to talk to one of the race coordinators about their company and how they run.
Seriously though, Coley and I had a ton of fun and it looked like all of the participants did, too.
If you've run a 5K before, or even if you haven't this was a great event that puts a little different twist on things. Plus, since it's a night time race, it made it a nice race where you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to go run. :)
I know I've said it before on my blog, but Coley said it last night that she thinks sometimes she has even more fun volunteering at these events than she does running them.
So check out the schedule for It's Glow Time below and see if they're going to be near you! You can either run or volunteer, but either way you'll have a good time! And if you don't see your city on there for this year, check out their website, because they're expanding to more cities in 2014!
If you've run a 5K before, or even if you haven't this was a great event that puts a little different twist on things. Plus, since it's a night time race, it made it a nice race where you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to go run. :)
I know I've said it before on my blog, but Coley said it last night that she thinks sometimes she has even more fun volunteering at these events than she does running them.
So check out the schedule for It's Glow Time below and see if they're going to be near you! You can either run or volunteer, but either way you'll have a good time! And if you don't see your city on there for this year, check out their website, because they're expanding to more cities in 2014!